Tag Archives: Mercy

The Be-Attitudes of Jesus, 010715

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Jesus said, “Blessed are those they mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  And “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Matt. 5: 4, 6, & 7,

Just about my whole life, I’ve been trying to figure out what the point of this ‘Sermon’, this teaching, really is.  What can it possibly mean that you are ‘blessed’ (sometimes translated as ‘happy’) if you are so sad you are mourning?  How is it that you are, or can be ‘happy’, when you are so bad that you’re desperate to be righteous (good).  OK, I get the one about mercy, if you’re merciful to others, they’ll be merciful to you. Not all the time, but at least some of the time.  (But even then, in the world, most of the time people, are only nice to others when they’re forced or shamed or guilted into it.  Not out of the goodness of their hearts. Even me and you.)

So what are we supposed to do with this passage?  How are we supposed to apply it to our lives, so that we are changed from being like us to being like Jesus? Sometimes I have pretty good questions, but very few real answers.  But here goes.

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  Blessed are you if you are in mourning for the way you are.  If you are so sad about the way you are, both inside and out, you may be ready, prepared, to let God comfort you.”  There’s that attitude, that humble attitude.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  Blessed are you if you’ve realized that you have no righteousness, no goodness, in and of yourself, because then you are ready, like an empty vessel, devoid of righteousness, to be filled with God and His righteousness.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”  Like we said earlier, give forgiveness, get forgiveness; give mercy, get mercy.  Give a little, get a little.  Give a lot, get a lot.

(Oh, if you don’t really know the meaning of mercy, it’s this: Grace is unmerited favor.  That is, God being nice to you when you didn’t do anything to deserve it.  Mercy is more.  It’s God being nice to you when you deserved to be punished.  Sounds like the condition I’m in most of the time.)

Remember this: With mercy, if you regularly excuse the faults of others, and even make excuses for them, God will do the same for you.  If you don’t; then God won’t do it for you. Just like with forgiveness. (See Matt. 6:14-15)

In the end, all three of these verses, in fact the whole of the Sermon on the Mount, is about our attitude.  Like it says in Philippians 2:5-8, “Let this mind (this attitude) be in you that also was in Christ Jesus, .  .  .  who humbled Himself, .  .  .  became a servant, and .  .  .  was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  The only way we can do that is if we do what it says in Luke 9:23, where Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must deny your self, take up your cross (sometimes translated as ‘die to your self) daily, (over and over); and follow Me.”  It’s not so much about doing as it is about being.  I’ve got to quit being like me, and start being like Jesus.  It’s a slow daily process, but it’s worth the trouble.  It will totally change your life!

Mercy  092114

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A Word about Mercy: In modern versions of the Bible, there are a lot of times when the word mercy in the King James Version is translated ‘love’, or ‘great love’ (or compassion) in the other versions.  And I guess mercy really is a facet of God’s love, but it is such a special facet of God’s love that it deserves some special attention.  In the dictionary, the word ‘mercy’ is defined as follows: 1 kind or compassionate treatment of an offender, adversary, prisoner, etc, in one’s power; compassion where severity is expected or deserved. 2 A disposition to be kind, forgiving, or helpful. 3 The power to show mercy or compassion: ‘to throw myself on his mercy’.  Antonyms of mercy are: harshness, severity, implacability, punishment, chastisement, vengeance.                                                            So you might say ‘mercy’ is love, or just like love,  but it has a depth of meaning that we don’t usually associate with love, certainly not what we humans usually think about when we say love.  Something about, ‘even though we’re worthless and don’t deserve anything but punishment, don’t deserve a thing except judgment and condemnation’, God says, “I don’t care.  Because I love them and I want them to love me, I’m going to be nice to them. It’s more than just regular, human love; it’s MERCY.   Psalms 100:6 (KJV) says, “For the Lord is good,  His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”  His mercy is everlasting.  To obtain mercy all you’ve got to do is accept it.  He’ll never quit giving it to you.  He likes being merciful because He loves us and He wants us to have a relationship with Him.  Right now, no matter what you’ve done; He’s standing there with His hand out, waiting for you to come and take His hand.  That’s mercy.                                             There’s a soliloquy from ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare. (Public domain). It says,  “The quality of mercy is not strain’d,                                                                                                               It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven                                                                                                  Upon the place  beneath: it is twice bless’d;                                                                                                It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:                                                                                              ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes                                                                                                     The throned monarch better than his crown;                                                                                               His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,                                                                                           The attribute to awe and majesty,                                                                                                                 Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;                                                                                               But mercy is above this sceptred sway,                                                                                                       It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,                                                                                                           It is an attribute to God himself,                                                                                                                   And earthly power doth then show likest God’s                                                                                           When mercy seasons justice.”                                                                                                                     That’s mercy.                                                                                                                                            While we’re talking about mercy, we need to talk also about grace.  Grace is the way we act when we’re brought up right; when our mommas actually taught us, actually showed us how people are supposed to act when they act graciously; when they let you see what true manners are all about.  Not so much about which fork to use as it is about how to make people feel comfortable and at ease in your home.  Grace is a sign of how you really are down in your heart, when the Spirit of God is residing there.   Someone said that Grace is ‘unmerited favor’; God being nice to you, even though you didn’t do anything to deserve it; and mercy is God being nice to you, even when you deserve to be punished.  Grace and mercy are just two faces of the same coin, and the coin is God’s love.  Oh, you’ve heard that expression haven’t you?  God is love.  .  (and mercy  .  .  .  and grace).                                                                                                       What do you think . . .What do you do?                                                                                              1] What is mercy to you?                                                                                                                          2] What is it about mercy that makes it so special?                                                                                3] What is the definition of grace?                                                                                                            4] What is it to you?